Christine Jorgensen was born on this day. She later became the first American to publicly undergo gender reassignment surgery.
After being drafted into the US Army during World War II, Jorgensen learned about emerging medical approaches to gender transition. In 1951 she travelled to Europe and, in Copenhagen, Denmark, began her medical transition. She chose the name Christine in honour of her endocrinologist, Dr Christian Hamburger.
Jorgensen returned to the United States in the early 1950s, where her transition became the subject of a New York Daily News front-page story. While the article incorrectly claimed she was the first person to undergo gender reassignment surgery, Jorgensen was the first person to be widely known for a transition involving both hormone therapy and surgery.
She became an instant celebrity and used her platform to advocate for transgender people, becoming known for her directness and polished wit. She also worked as an actress and nightclub entertainer, recorded several songs, published her autobiography, and regularly spoke at universities about her experiences.
In 1959 Jorgensen became engaged to typist Howard J Knox. The couple were unable to obtain a marriage certificate because Jorgensen was recorded as male on her birth certificate. Knox later lost his job after news of the engagement became public, and the relationship eventually ended.
Shortly before her death in 1989, Jorgensen said she had given the sexual revolution a “good swift kick in the pants”. She died of bladder and lung cancer, four weeks short of her 63rd birthday.
Author Colm Tóibín was born in 1955
Irish author Colm Tóibín was born on this day in 1955. He has found success as a novelist, playwright, poet, short story writer, essayist, and critic.
His first novel, The South, was published in 1990. Wider attention followed with his fourth novel, The Blackwater Lightship, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. His 2005 novel, The Master, was also shortlisted.
Tóibín succeeded Martin Amis as Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Manchester and later became Chancellor of the University of Liverpool. He is currently the Irene and Sydney B Silverman Professor of Humanities at Columbia University in Manhattan.
Over his career, he has published many acclaimed works, including The Heather Blazing, The Story of Night, The Blackwater Lightship, The Master, Brooklyn, The Testament of Mary, Nora Webster, House of Names, The Magician, and his most recent novel, Long Island, released in 2024.
Tóibín lives in Los Angeles with his partner Hedi El Kholti, an editor at Semiotext(e), a publisher known for literary journals and theory.
In 2016, Tóibín reflected on his writing and his youth in Ireland during an appearance on the BBC radio programme Desert Island Discs.
This post was fist published on 30th May 2020 and has subsequently been updated.
